Scratchbuilt 1/72 Macchi Castoldi M.C.72 racer

From the archive (2010):

The Macchi Castoldi M.C.72 is so famous that I won’t bother with extensive introductions or descriptions.

With an aura between the paintings of Giorgio De Chirico and the sculptures of Giacometti, the pure lines of the MC72 speak for themselves.

Suffice to say that the speed record it set in 1934 for seaplanes still stands today, 76 years later! It was powered by a FIAT AS.6, which was actually two AS.5 in tandem. It used surface radiators on the wings, floats and, if needed, in the lower back fuselage. Two sets of contra-rotating props were used to cancel torque.

It is unthinkable that no contemporary kits exist of this iconic plane; only a few out of production and rather inaccurate issues pop out from time to time here and there. The recently-released Pavla kit of the Supermarine S.6 is a good step in the right direction, though.

Once more the scratchbuilding approach was needed in order to have one. A little relief came from the generic Aeroclub pontoon vacuformed sheet that is available from some vendors. This has floats that were a good general fit to the ones needed here.

The fuselage was carved from basswood but since my Mattel Psychedelic Machine has a small plate it couldn’t be used to vacuform parts and the original was used instead. To the main fuselage a turtle deck (wood), an air intake (folded styrene sheet) and two strips with pre-located exhaust holes were added later.

Flying surfaces were made of styrene sheet and for the pontoon struts Contrail airfoiled stock was used. The struts were given the correct silhouette and pins were inserted at the ends in order to facilitate assembly later on.

An interior was built with some structural detail, seat, joystick, rudder pedals and instrument panel, but -as it is some times the case with these types- very little can be appreciated due to the small cockpit opening.

A spinner that needed a bit of adjustment to match the plan was found in the spare box. Prop blades were carved using as a base a discarded four-blade prop. The vac floats were glued, re-contoured and prepared for receiving the struts.

Once those bits came together and after priming and painting decal time was up. I decided to work the radiators as a two-decal endeavor. A metallic brass coat was sprayed on decal paper and the radiator pattern was printed on another. Masks were cut and then the decals applied.

For the statistic-inclined here are all the decals used:

2 black strips to cover the exhaust areas
2 aluminum strips for the stripe underneath the precedent
2 registration numbers in white at the base of the tail
2 Italian flags on the rudder
2 crests on the mentioned flags

4 brass decals for the wing radiators
4 brass decals for the struts
4 radiator patterns for the wing

6 radiator patterns for the struts (the front pair, as it is angled, required both sides covered separately
2 tiny aluminum covers on the nose on top of the upper oil radiator
6 louvers on the front fuselage
4 louver pairs on the belly
2 red strips that cut the lower wing radiators in half
1 black strip on top of air intake

6 little decal strips for the canopy frame

6 hinges (they are only little red squares to represent the fin hinges protruding into the rudder)
12 for the radiators on the floats (again, these are two-stage decals)

Total: 67

To that 16 streamlined struts were added and a trolley was build to support the model.

It is a joy when design encompasses beauty and efficiency, isn’t it?